Surprisingly fast recovery of biological soil crusts following livestock removal in southern Australia

Journal of Vegetation Science

Volumn 22, Issue 5, 2011, Pages 905-916

  Read, Cassia F ^a   Duncan, David H ^b   Vesk, Peter A ^a   Elith, Jane ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE   (Australia)

^b ARTHUR RYLAH INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH   (Australia)

Author keywords

Boosted regression tree model; Grassy woodlands; Lichen; Livestock exclusion; Moss; Restoration

Indexed keywords

AGRICULTURAL LAND; CLIMATIC REGION; COLONIZATION; CYANOBACTERIUM; DISTURBANCE; ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION; GRAZING; HABITAT FRAGMENTATION; HABITAT RESTORATION; LANDSCAPE; LIVESTOCK; MOSS; NUMERICAL MODEL; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; RESTORATION ECOLOGY; SOIL CRUST; STABILIZATION; WOODLAND;

AUSTRALIA; VICTORIA [AUSTRALIA];

BRYOPHYTA; CYANOBACTERIA;

EID: 80052276397     PISSN: 11009233     EISSN: 16541103     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2011.01296.x     Document Type: Article

References (64)

1. Anderson, D.C., Harper, K.T. & Rushforth, S.R. 1982. Recovery of cryptogamic crusts from grazing on Utah winter ranges. Journal of Range Management 35: 355-359.
2. Belnap, J. 1993. Recovery rates of cryptobiotic crusts: inoculant use and assessment methods. Great Basin Naturalist 53: 89-95.
3. Belnap, J. 1995. Surface disturbances: their role in accelerating desertification. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 37: 39-57.
4. Belnap, J. 2006. The potential roles of biological soil crusts in dryland hydrologic cycles. Hydrological Processes 20: 3159-3178.
5. Belnap, J. & Eldridge, D.J. 2003. Disturbance and recovery of biological soil crusts. In: Belnap, J. & Lange, O.L. (eds.) Biological soil crusts: structure, function and management. pp. 363-383. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, DE.
6. Belnap, J. & Warren, S.D. 2002. Patton's tracks in the Mojave Desert, USA: an ecological legacy. Arid Land Research & Management 16: 245-258.
7. Belnap, J., Phillips, S.L., Witwicki, D.L. & Miller, M.E. 2008. Visually assessing the level of development and soil surface stability of cyanobacterially dominated biological soil crusts. Journal of Arid Environments 72: 1257-1264.
8. Boudell, J.A., Link, S.O. & Johansen, J.R. 2002. Effect of soil microtopography on seed bank distribution in the shrub-steppe. Western North American Naturalist 62: 14-24.
9. Bowker, M.A. 2007. Biological soil crust rehabilitation in theory and practice: an underexploited opportunity. Restoration Ecology 15: 13-23.
10. Bowker, M.A., Belnap, J., Davidson, D.W. & Goldstein, H. 2006. Correlates of biological soil crust abundance across a continuum of spatial scales: support for a hierarchical conceptual model. Journal of Applied Ecology 43: 152-163.
11. Bowker, M.A., Belnap, J., Chaudhary, B.V. & Johnson, N.C. 2008. Revisiting classic water erosion models in drylands: The strong impact of biological soil crusts. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 40: 2309-2316.
12. Buston, P. & Elith, J. 2011. Determinants of reproductive success and reproductive strategies of dominant clown anemonefish Amphiprion percula. Journal of Animal Ecology 80: 528-538.
13. Cai, W. & Cowan, T. 2008. Dynamics of late autumn rainfall reduction over southeastern Australia. Geophysical Research Letters 35: 1-5.
14. Chaudhary, V.B., Bowker, M.A., O'Dell, T.E., Grace, J.B., Redman, A.E., Rillig, M.C. & Johnson, N.C. 2009. Untangling the biological contributions to soil stability in semiarid shrublands. Ecological Applications 19: 110-122.
15. Cole, D.N. 1990. Trampling disturbance and recovery of cryptogamic soils crusts in Grand Canyon National Park. Great Basin Naturalist 50: 321-325.
16. Colwell, J.D. 1965. An automatic procedure for the determination of phosphorus in sodium hydrogen carbonate extracts of soils. Chemistry Industry May: 893-895.
17. Danin, A., Dor, I., Sandler, A. & Amit, R. 1998. Desert crust morphology and its relations to microbiotic succession at Mt. Sedom, Israel. Journal of Arid Environments 38: 161-174.
18. De'ath, G. 2002. Multivariate regression trees: a new technique for modelling species-environment relationships. Ecology 83: 1105-1117.
19. De'ath, G. 2007. Boosted trees for ecological modeling and prediction. Ecology 88: 243-251.
20. Dorrough, J., Vesk, P.A. & Moll, J. 2008. Integrating ecological uncertainty and farm-scale economics when planning restoration. Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 288-295.
21. Duncan, D.H. & Dorrough, J.W. 2009. Historical and current land use shape landscape restoration options in the Australian wheat and sheep farming zone. Landscape and Urban Planning 91: 124-132.
22. Duncan, D.H., Dorrough, J., White, M. & Moxham, C. 2008. Blowing in the wind? Nutrient enrichment of remnant woodlands in an agricultural landscape. Landscape Ecology 23: 107-119.
23. Eldridge, D.J. 1998a. Soil crust lichens and mosses on calcrete-dominant soils at Maralinga in arid South Australia. Journal of Adelaide Botanic Gardens 18: 9-24.
24. Eldridge, D.J. 1998b. Trampling of microphytic crusts on calcareous soils and its impact on erosion under rain-impacted flow. Catena 33: 221-239.
25. Eldridge, D.J. 1999. Distribution and floristics of moss- and lichen-dominated soil crusts in a patterned Callitris glaucophylla woodland in eastern Australia. Acta Oecologia 20: 159-170.
26. Eldridge, D.J. & Ferris, J.M. 1999. Recovery of populations of the soil lichen Psora crenata after disturbance in arid South Australia. Rangeland Journal 21: 194-198.
27. Eldridge, D.J. & Kinnel, P.I.A. 1997. Assessment of erosion rates from microphyte-dominated calcareous soils under rain-impacted flow. Australian Journal of Soil Research 35: 475-489.
28. Eldridge, D.J. & Rosentreter, R. 1999. Morphological groups: a framework for monitoring microphytic crusts in arid landscapes. Journal of Arid Environments 41: 11-25.
29. Eldridge, D.J. & Tozer, M.E. 1997. A practical guide to soil lichens and bryophytes of Australia's dry country. Department of Land and Water Conservation, Sydney, AU.
30. Elith, J.E., Leathwick, J.R. & Hastie, T. 2008. A working guide to boosted regression trees. Journal of Animal Ecology 77: 802-813.
31. Elmarsdottir, A., Aradottir, A.L. & Trlica, M.J. 2003. Microsite availability and establishment of native species on degraded and reclaimed sites. Journal of Applied Ecology 40: 815-823.
32. Fabricius, K.E. & De'ath, G. 2008. Photosynthetic symbionts and energy supply determine octocoral biodiversity in coral reefs. Ecology 89: 3163-3173.
33. Gibbons, P., Briggs, S.V., Ayers, D.A., Doyle, S., Seddon, J., McElhinny, C., Jones, N., Sims, R. & Doody, J.S. 2008. Rapidly quantifying reference conditions in modified landscapes. Biological Conservation 141: 2483-2493.
34. Harper, K.T. & Marble, J.R. 1988. A role for nonvascular plants in management of arid and semi-arid rangelands. In: Tueller, P.T. (ed.) Vegetation science applications for rangeland analysis and management. pp. 136-169. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, NL.
35. Hastie, T., Tibshirani, R. & Friedman, J.H. 2009. The elements of statistical learning: data mining, inference, and prediction. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, US.
36. Hawkes, C.V. 2003. Nitrogen cycling mediated by biological soil crusts and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Ecology 84: 1553-1562.
37. Housman, D.C., Powers, H.H., Collins, A.D. & Belnap, J. 2006. Carbon and nitrogen fixation differ between successional stages of biological soil crusts in Colorado Plateau and Chihuahuan Desert. Journal of Arid Environments 66: 620-634.
38. Jimenez Aguilar, A., Huber-Sannwald, E., Belnap, J., Smart, D.R. & Arredondo Moreno, J.T. 2009. Biological soil crusts exhibit a dynamic response to seasonal rain and release from grazing with implications for soil stability. Journal of Arid Environments 73: 1158-1169.
39. Johansen, J.R. & St Clair, L.L. 1986. Cryptogamic soil crusts: recover from grazing near Camp Floyd State Park, Utah, USA. Great Basin Naturalist 46: 632-640.
40. Johansen, J.R., St Clair, L.L., Webb, B.L. & Nebeker, G.T. 1984. Recovery patterns of cryptogamic soil crusts in desert rangelands following fire disturbance. Bryologist 87: 238-243.
41. Johansen, J.R., Ashley, J. & Rayburn, W.R. 1993. Effects of rangefire on soil algal crusts in semiarid shrub-steppe of the lower Columbia Basin and their subsequent recovery. Great Basin Naturalist 53: 73-88.
42. Kidron, G.J., Vonshak, A. & Abeliovich, A. 2008. Recovery rates of microbiotic crusts within a dune ecosystem in the Negev Desert. Geomorphology 100: 444-452.
43. Lalley, J.S. & Viles, H.A. 2008. Recovery of lichen-dominated soil crusts in a hyper-arid desert. Biodiversity and Conservation 17: 1-20.
44. Langhans, T.M., Storm, C. & Schwabe, A. 2009. Biological soil crusts and their microenvironment: impact on emergence, survival and establishment of seedlings. Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants 204: 157-168.
45. Langhans, T.M., Storm, C. & Schwabe, A. 2010. Regeneration processes of biological soil crusts, macro-cryptogams and vascular plant species after fine-scale disturbance in a temperate region: recolonization or successional replacement? Flora --Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants 205: 46-60.
46. Leathwick, J.R., Elith, J., Chadderton, L., Rowe, D. & Hastie, T. 2008. Dispersal, disturbance, and the contrasting biogeographies of New Zealand's diadromous and non-diadromous fish species. Journal of Biogeography 35: 1481-1497.
47. Li, X.R., Wang, X.P. & Zhang, J.G. 2002. Microbiotic soil crust and its effect on vegetation and habitat on artificially stabilized desert dunes in Tengger Desert, North China. Biology of Fertile Soils 35: 147-154.
48. Li, X.R., Chen, Y.W., Su, Y.G. & Tan, H.J. 2006. Effects of biological soil crust on desert insect diversity: evidence from the Tengger Desert of northern China. Arid Land Research and Management 20: 263-280.
49. Lunt, I., Eldridge, D.J., Morgan, J.W. & Witt, G.B. 2007. A framework to predict the effects of livestock grazing and grazing exclusion on conservation values in natural ecosystems in Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 55: 401-415.
50. Milne, J., Short, M. & Beckmann, K. 2006. A preliminary study of bryophytes and invertebrates of soil crusts in the Little Desert National Park and surrounds. The Victorian Naturalist 123: 195-203.
51. Prasse, R. & Bornkamm, R. 2000. Effect of microbiotic soil surface crusts on emergence of vascular plants. Plant Ecology 150: 65-75.
52. Rayment, G.E. & Higginson, F.R. 1992. Australian laboratory handbook of soil and chemical methods. Inkata Press, Melbourne, AU.
53. Read, C.F., Duncan, D.H., Vesk, P.A. & Elith, J. 2008. Biological soil crust distribution is related to patterns of fragmentation and land use in a dryland agricultural landscape of southern Australia. Landscape Ecology 23: 1093-1105.
54. Ridgeway, G. 2004. Gbm: generalized boosted regression models. R. package, version 1.3-5. Available at: (accessed 22 July 2009).
55. Rosentreter, R., Eldridge, D.J. & Kaltenecker, J.H. 2001. Monitoring and management of biological soil crusts. In: Belnap, J. & Lange, O.L. (eds.) Biological soil crusts: structure, function and management. pp. 457-468. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, DE.
56. Sokal, R.R. & Rohlf, F.J. 1998. Biometry. W. H. Freeman and Co, New York, NY, US.
57. Su, Y.G., Li, X.R., Zheng, J.G. & Huang, G. 2009. The effect of biological soil crusts of different successional stages and conditions on the germination of seeds of three desert plants. Journal of Arid Environments 73: 931-936.
58. Trémont, R.M. 1994. Life-history attributes of plants in grazed and ungrazed grasslands on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. Australian Journal of Botany 42: 511-530.
59. Vesk, P.A., Davidson, A. & Chee, Y.E. 2010. Spatial distribution and prediction of seed production by Eucalyptus microcarpa in a fragmented landscape. Austral Ecology 35: 60-71.
60. Walkley, A. & Black, I.A. 1934. An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter, and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Science 37: 29-38.
61. White, M., Oates, A., Barlow, T., Pelikan, M., Brown, J., Rosengren, N., Cheal, D., Sinclair, S. & Sutter, G. 2003. The vegetation of north-west Victoria: A report to the Wimmera, North Central and Mallee Catchment Management Authorities. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Melbourne, AU.
62. Zaady, E. & Bouskilaz, A. 2002. Lizard burrows association with successional stages of biological soil crusts in an arid sandy region. Journal of Arid Environments 50: 235-246.
63. 2 exchange in biological soil crusts of successional age. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 32: 959-966.
64. Zhao, Y., Xu, M. & Belnap, J. 2010. Potential nitrogen fixation activity of different aged biological soil crusts from rehabilitated grasslands of the hilly Loess Plateau, China. Journal of Arid Environments 74: 1186-1191.